Q. What early 20th century celebrity appeared at the Memorial Auditorium exactly 100 years ago?
A. Homer Rodeheaver appeared in concert at the Memorial Auditorium on Feb. 10, 1925. Box seats were $1. Reserved seats were 75 cents, and general admission was 50 cents, according to an advertisement in that day’s Chattanooga Daily Times.
If you’ve never heard of Rodeheaver, it’s likely because he died in 1955. But Rodeheaver, who was born in Ohio and moved to Jellico, Tennessee, as a child, was a multitalented entertainer who rose to prominence with his trusty trombone, singing voice and work as a music publisher in the early 20th century. The self-proclaimed “musical missionary” was a celebrity in his own time.
He is generally considered the most prolific recorder of gospel songs in the acoustical recording era, according to the Southern Gospel Music Association, which posthumously inducted Rodeheaver into its hall of fame in 2023. The acoustical era stretched from the 1890s until 1925.